He fed goats in the morning and fixed fences in the afternoon. He played three sports, including offense and defense in football, for a school that graduated 37 students his senior year. He arrived at Boise State a two-star recruit.

On Tuesday, he departs for New York City.

The past four years, McClellin has steadily risen to prominence, from a small-town kid to a first-round prospect who might just be of interest to the Chargers at pick 18. He brings athleticism and experience, hard-hitting with humbleness, and the story begins on Idaho pasture.

There, in the small town of Marsing, two grandparents raised livestock and a linebacker.

They planned on the first. They improvised with the second.

McClellin, widely ranked among the top outside linebackers in this week's NFL draft, was born in the summer of 1989 and, by his second birthday, was adopted.

“That's why I lived out there on the farm,” McClellin said last week at an airport gate, hours after visiting an AFC team. “My mother didn't have enough money, and my dad didn't really want a part of me, I guess you could say. But my mother was there for me. She tried as much as she could to see me, be there for me.

“(My grandparents) stepped up and did what they needed to do. More than anything, they taught me how to be humble, and that's something I'll (have) with me for the rest of my life.”

Humble. Talk to someone about McClellin, and that's the adjective of choice.

That personality trait, lately, has come in handy.

A banner stretches over Main Street in Marsing, population of about 1,000, reading “Home of Boise State's Shea McClellin” with his No. 92 jersey number printed on it.

The sign has been there for two years. That's one thing.

The media attention the past two weeks is quite another.

On April 12, the NFL announced McClellin was one of 26 prospects who will attend the draft's first round, which takes place Thursday at Radio City Music Hall. Ever since, it seems, his name tops every single “draft riser” article and video on the Internet.

Last week, NFL Network draft analyst Mike Mayock discussed linebackers who could go in the first round.

“I bang the table for Shea McClellin,” Mayock said in a media conference call. “A lot of people have thought he's a second- or third-round pick. He's going to go in the first round to a 3-4 team, and he's going to be a very good football player … I see Mike Vrabel when I look at Shea McClellin, and I think he's going to be a 10-year starter.”

McClellin, as Vrabel did with the Patriots, prides himself on versatility.

He played a bit of everything at Boise State, from outside linebacker to defensive end to middle linebacker to nickelback.

In the past two seasons, McClellin had 16.5 sacks. The total is deflated, too, given he was standing on the sideline in most games late with the Broncos nursing a large lead.

At the combine, the 6-foot-3, 260-pound defender backed up production with performance, posting strong workouts that included a 4.63-second time in the 40-yard dash.

Fast times in spandex aren't a McClellin goal.

He wants to become the best football player he can be, he says.

One day, he wants to be the best father.

“I don't want to do what my father did,” said McClellin, adding his uncle also served as a father figure. “If I have a child, I'm going to be there for it, no matter what, when it is, or what happens. I don't want to be like that, you know?”

He credits childhood upbringing on the farm for his good habits.

Among them, Pete Kwiatkowski, the Boise State defensive coordinator, pointed out consistency, attention to detail and work ethic.

“He's going to deflect that attention to all the people who got him to where he is,” Kwiatkowski said. “He's had help along the way, but it all comes back around to him ... He's a great person. He just happens to be a really good football player.”